Izzo furious at defensive effort in Georgia Tech game
Offensively, the Spartans played very well in an 88-86 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night. The defense, however, was a different story, as a severe lapse at the end allowed the Yellow Jackets a chance to win. Steve Grinczel of Mlive.com writes that head coach Tom Izzo wants to make sure his team gets the message.
“You have to get an identity and your brand back, and right now we don’t have an identity,” Izzo said. “Our identity is (to) fire shots up. We shot 54 percent (from the floor), and we shot 47 percent from the three (-point line), and you know what? You can’t shoot better than that.
“But as the story goes, you don’t check (play defense), you don’t win big games. You don’t check, you don’t win championships. You don’t check and sooner or later life starts dissolving.”
What looked like a comfortable 10-point lead melted down to one thanks to five Georgia Tech 3-pointers, beginning with Anthony Morrow’s long-range basket with 1:26 remaining.
“I’m concerned that we don’t want to guard anybody and just want to outscore everybody,” Izzo said. “That’s going to change and it’s with some of our best players it’s going to change on. Maybe our guys will get it, and maybe they won’t and that will determine where we are this (season).”